Paris: Novak Djokovic pulled out of the French Open ahead of his quarter-final against Casper Ruud due to a knee injury suffered in the previous round, tournament organisers announced on Tuesday. "Due to a torn medial meniscus in his right knee (discovered during an MRI scan performed today), Novak Djokovic..
. has been forced to withdraw from the Roland Garros tournament," organisers said in a statement. World number one and 24-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic was due to play Ruud on Wednesday for a place in the last four.
Djokovic defeated Ruud in last year's final at Roland Garros. As a result Ruud will go on to face fourth seed Alexander Zverev or 11th seed Alex de Minaur in the semi-finals on Friday. The 37-year-old Djokovic had cast doubt over his fitness following Monday's five-set win over Francisco Cerundolo, admitting he needed anti-inflammatory drugs to get through the match.
Djokovic blamed the "slippery" Philippe Chatrier court for the injury he sustained early in the second set of his 6-1, 5-7, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 victory over Cerundolo. "I don't know what will happen tomorrow or after tomorrow if I'll be able to step out on the court and play. You know, I hope so.
Let's see what happens," Djokovic said after the match. "For the last couple weeks I have had, I would say, slight discomfort, I would call it that way, in the right knee, but I haven't had an injury that would be concerning me at all. "I was playing a few tournaments with it, and no issues until today.
" Dj.
